Influence of samarium doping on the phase stability and optical properties of calcium silicates derived from agro-food wastes

Calcium silicates are very stable and good hosts for luminescent materials. These calcium silicates are synthesized using cost-effective agro-food wastes such as rice husk ash and eggshell powder along with doping of samarium oxide [Ca_3?xSi₂O₇:xSm³⁺(x(%)?=?0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00)] via solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction confirms that the Ca₃Si₂O₇ phase co-exists with the monoclinic-Ca₂SiO₄ phase. An increase in doping concentration of Sm³⁺ enhances the Ca₂SiO₄ phase content. Two types of morphology can be seen in the SEM micrographs confirming the presence of two phases. Photoluminescence emission spectra contain peaks in the visible region. Characteristic emission peaks of Sm³⁺ are present along with strong peaks due to the titanium ions present in agro-food wastes. Commission International de'Eclairage (CIE) co-ordinates correspond to the green region, which is significantly different from the CIE co-ordinates of Sm³⁺ doped samples derived from mineral oxides. This study presents an alternate use of agro-food wastes for synthesizing visible light-emitting phosphors and presents a mechanism for stabilizing Ca₂SiO₄ in waste-derived samples.